Fall TV Mystery: Who'll Be House's New Boss?

It’s a job we wouldn’t wish on anyone in the medical community: lording over the brilliant if bullheaded Dr. Gregory House. And yet it is a position that must be filled, given that Fox’s House is heading into its next season sans Lisa Edelstein as Princeton Plainsboro’s Dean of Medicine, Dr. Lisa Cuddy. What sort of superior should the show introduce to keep House in check? Female, male? Prickly, hunky? We have some ideas….

Series creator David Shore says the possibilities for picking Cuddy’s successor are “wide open…. Everything’s on the table” — promoting Wilson included. And yet we have the strong feeling that the writers won’t be able to resist the opportunity to shake things up with a brand-new boss person.

“It’s safe to say there’ll be new players next season. Some,” Shore told us. And with Edelstein gone and Olivia Wilde expected back only in measured doses (as Thirteen), “Yes, we would want to have a female presence, absolutely.”

So here are our picks, both femmes and fellas, to (try to) keep the House in order.

Stephen Fry|This Brit wit has before teamed with his BFF Hugh Laurie in the BBC’s A Bit of Fry & Laurie and ITV’s Jeeves and Wooster. He’s also familiar to Fox faithful from his intermittent gig as Dr. Gordon Wyatt on Bones. We could see Fry playing a Dean of Medicine with whom House strikes an instant connection — Wilson’s jealous, what? — though Laurie might be tempted to slip out of his American accent now and again.

Janeane Garofalo| The sometime comedienne has been laboring to break into the TV drama biz, first on 24 and most recently on the short-lived Criminal Minds spin-off. On House, she could give as well as she gets, and probably with little to none of that palpable sexual tension viewers grew used to.

Tim Roth| I’ll pretend for a second that I don’t know how these things work and propose that Roth’s Lie to Me character, the genius Dr. Cal Lightman, take the reins at PPTH, if only because he’ll be able to glean each and every time his world-class diagnostician is trying to dupe him.

Calista Flockhart| Now that Brothers & Sisters has retired to that wine cellar in the sky, she’s available. And we like the idea of her playing a Dean who on the surface comes across as Ally McBeal-style flighty — something that prompts House to dial down his game and let his guard down — when in actuality she’s playing him, being secretly as razor-sharp and cunning as the duplicitous doc.

Tom Welling| Another way to go in filling Cuddy’s shoes is by totally zagging and making House answer to some young whippersnapper. We see a scenario where the Smallville alum plays a suited-up, top-of-his-class Harvard grad who thinks he knows all there is to know about his primo new job, but is in for a rude awakening as to how things really work when one of your subordinates is a super… maniac.

Keri Russell|Think Welling’s character, only… even prettier. Already a de facto member of the Fox family from her turn on last season’s Running Wilde — and beloved since her days as Felicity — she could play a preternaturally brilliant administrator who knocks ladies man Chase off his game as much as she professionally perturbs House.

Allison Janney|This bit of dreamcasting perhaps gets us most excited, the idea of TV’s erstwhile C.J. Cregg boarding the Fox drama as a no-nonsense Dean of Medicine who perhaps condones House’s envelope-tearing therapies a smidgen more than Cuddy did, yet nonetheless takes an almost sadistic delight in making him fight for his way. Janney is lethal with well-crafted banter and zingers, so seeing this four-time Emmy winner crackle in scenes with Laurie, a four-time nominee, would certainly elevate our pulse.

At first I thought my whole life was crumbling to pieces when I found out Lisa Edelstein wasn’t returning next season but this is all very interesting, actually. With Cuddy out of the way – hopefully only for one season – the show can cover new grounds instead of super similar things. I love Huddy but the show is called House :( I would like a new man superior. A woman can be inserted in some other position. We all liked the war between House and Tritter (the detective whose name I can’t wuite remember) and House and Vogler (especially when Vogler walked away like a pimp and Cuddy followed behind him like she was his hoe) and the show changed a lot since those seasons. A man would be more interesting and might draw the viewers in more because we’ve seen all the lovesick crap. I’m tired of House and Cuddy not working out; they do need a break. I’m hoping for Tim Roth because I feel like he would make great competition against Hugh Laurie’s character. They even sort of have the same stubbled beard. That already sets the competition off. Through this thing, we can discover things about House and the new character that wouldn’t be uncovered if the boss were female. I’ve got a good feeling about this. Hope it counts.

All these suggestion have been good I don’t want Cuddy to leave the show but if she nust I think Roseanne could this job. No one has a more powerful presentance I just loved the Roseanne show. I have major depession no one can make me laugh like she does Or what about Whoope Goldburg. I know why don’t we just let the people that brought together the first team do there jobs? THey fround Laurie.

As much as Cuddy missing from the show is kind of gonna stink I personally Tim Roth would be a good candidate to fill her shoes. Lie to me has already proven his potential from sarcastic to serious and it would be entertaining to watch House fail at flying under the wire a little more.

I’m for Allison Janney (or S. Fry, if not.) I don’t like Tim Roth– and he’s no match for House.
But it should be someone (or someone should be in it) with whom House has some sexual-love past… maybe Cate (Frozen), or best of all, Stacy. Not as his boss. But as someone important to him, a new love.
Cameron should return (but to Chase– if he’s there).
Allison Janney is a GREAT actress and would be perfect as a new boss.

Emma Thompson as new Dean and Wilson buys House a Personal Gentleman’s Gentleman, ala Jeeves, played by Fry. Just waiting on the finale for this series. How will Ahab (House) face God and be crushed by him? How will Starbuck (Wilson) go down with him? Will Chase or Forman be Ishmael, the sole survivor. Personally, I’d have “God” heal House’s leg in some way he can’t explain, but tie this healing to some mortal sacrifice of Wilson so that House goes nuts and lights himself on fire in the hospital chapel. End series with that image. Melville would be proud.

Tom is the only choice! Maybe he has retained one of his powers from his S/V days and occasionally sneaks in at night to heal a dying child or whatever. House would be flabbergasted and I can just see Tom giving his cute, shy, nervous look as he changes the subject.

WHY HASN’T ANYONE THOUGHT ABOUT BRINGING BACK CAMERON AS CUDDY’S REPLACEMENT. SHE HATES HOW HOUSE AND NOW CHASE DO THINGS. SHE WOULD BE A GREAT PERSON TO SPAR WITH HOUSE. THEN TO EVENTUALLY EVOLVE INTO A “HOUSE-MINDED” PERSON IF YOU WILL. THE OLD TEAM WOULD BE BACK TOGETHER AND CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG, BUT I HAVEN’T SEE MUCH OF HER LATELY SINCE SHE LEFT HOUSE. NOT TO MENTION SHE HAS ALL OF THEM BY THE BALLS KNOWING ALL THEIR SECRETS. EVEN THAT OF HER EX HUSBAND THE DICTATOR KILLING CHASE. JUST A THOUGHT.

Jennifer Beals will be perfect. Look at how she handled Tim Roth in Lie to Me and Jason Clarke in The Chicago Code. Those roles puts her as the best person to boss House around! I meant, to be House’s boss.

Fry or Janney – absolutely. The show’s losing credibility with all of the ‘hotties’ cast in female roles. Even Laurie suggested as much in his NY Times interview. Was never a huge fan of Lisa E. so I look forward to a more believable series this year .. sans the little sex kittens playing grown-up roles. i.e. I’m a professional woman, but wouldn’t be caught dead wearing the plunging necklines and ass-hugging skirts that she wore as ‘Dean of Medicine’ …. come on.
Laurie’s character .. complete with the dark side, the genius, the wit, the slap-stick and unabashed talent carry the show. Why did they muddy it up with this whole ‘Huddy’ nonsense? I thought soap operas were fading in popularity. Audiences have become much more discriminating and sophisticated. Haven’t they?